Aumont, 22, went 2-5 with seven saves and a 2.68 ERA in 43 appearances for Double-A Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He struck out 78 batters in 53 2/3 innings and held opponents to a .216 batting average. The Phillies picture Aumont as a late-inning reliever for the Phillies, possibly as a closer. Baseball America ranked Aumont as the organization’s fifth-best prospect following the season.

Gillies, 23, has been unable to stay on the field since joining the Phillies because of injuries. He played in just three games for Class A Clearwater, but played for Scottsdale in the Arizona Fall League. They believe he has potential. He just needs to get on the field and play.

Valle, 21, hit .284 with five homers and 40 RBIs in 91 games for Clearwater. He hit .368 against left-handed pitching. The Phillies signed Valle as an amateur free agent in 2006. Baseball America ranked Valle as the organizations’ third-best prospect.

Diekman, 23, went 0-1 with a 3.05 ERA and three saves in 53 appearances with Reading. He allowed 13 earned runs in 18 innings in his first 18 appearances, but had a 1.72 ERA over his final 35 appearances. He also struck out 83 batters in 65 innings and held opponents to a .199 average, including a .099 mark against left-handers. Diekman, who the Phillies selected in the 30th round in 2007, allowed one earned run and struck out 14 in 11 1/3 innings in the Arizona Fall League.

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I would have left Gillies unprotected. I doubt anyone would be able to stash him on the major league roster for the entire year. Even if the Phils did lose him, I’m not sure how much of a loss it would be.

There is no reason not to protect Gillies. There’s room on the roster for him and he does have some upside. He just needs to play.
Diekman came our of nowhere. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in Philly at some point in 2012 because they’re always looking for another LH bullpen piece.

I’m not sure you’re correct about James not being eliglble. He signed when he was 18 and has already played 5 seasons in the Phillies farm system if you include 2008 when he missed the entire year due to injury. Even if he is eligible, it would be a longshot for someone to take him in the Rule 5 Draft.

are they PHerris? I dont’ think they are required to have 40, just cna’t have more then 40. In any case, it probably has to do with his contract-promised a place on 40 man and an invite to big league camp this year. He’ll start and stay in LV. Interested in seeing what Gillis does this year now that he’s healthy for first time

So, cost is your gauge? Anyone would be an upgrade over Gload, who was a non-factor.
And, I’ll stand by my statement 2 weeks ago that I’d have given Nathan 2 years instead of the 4 that they gave Papelbon. I think the Rangers got it right.
So far, the Phils haven’t improved this team over last year.

I just had a discussion with a friend who said that Amaro should have waited instead of signing Papelbon, and sign whoever was left over between players like Nathan, K-Rod and Bell because it would be cheaper.
Well then, we wouldn’t have the best closer available, would we?

Nice bait and switch, as usual. Who said anything about Junior over paying for Papelbon? No, it seems that there has always been $10 to $15 million of worthless, over paid players lurking on the Phillies roster every year since Junior took over. So far this year there is Joe Blanton but there is still plenty of time to blow more payroll before the season starts. Hide and watch.

Considering how far Oswalt fell, how is a healthy Joe Blanton going to look in 2012? If he’s healthy he’s easily one of the better 4-5 pitchers in MLB. Yeah, he’s overpaid but it allows them to let a questionable Oswalt to walk.

muleman, it will be hard to say how improved the team will be until they come up with a plan for SS. But every move they have made to date is an improvement. Papelbon is better than Madson, Thome is an improved bat off the bench over Gload, and Wigginton is light years better than Martinez, a guy who should never have been on the team in the first place.
And the Rangers got it right? You know that…how? They gave almost $15 million dollars to a 37 year old guy (Nathan) coming off of Tommy John surgery. Sorry, I’ll take Papelbon. He’ll still be younger than Nathan was when he got hurt when the four year deal is up.

That’s all Thome is, a bat off the bench. He’s ZERO defensively. And I’m not comparing Wigginton to Martinez, he’s a potential replacement for Polanco. How is that better?
And we’ll see who got the better end of the closer deal. The reason I think the Rangers did the right thing is that they didn’t overpay for a closer so that they can address other (more important) areas. How are the Phils going to settle the shortstop issue?
As of today, they’re at break-even over last year. As we saw the past 2 years, winning in the regular season is meaningless if they can’t hit in the post season. So far, they haven’t provided me with enough evidence that they have made any significant (starters, not bench guys) changes to address that major issue.

Under the circumstances, Gload was also zero defensively so Thome is an upgrade over Gload. And Wigginton WILL be replacing Martinez, not Polanco. Hopefully the surgery will help Polanco and he will be able to play effectively. Wigginton shouldn’t be playing third, he will be playing a lot of LF and 1B until Howard gets back. If Polanco breaks down, and that’s not a given, they may have to bring up Brown at some point and then Wigginton would play third.
And after finding out what is out there for him, I think Rollins comes back on a three year deal. I’m not going to argue with you about the closer. IMO, they got the best available.

So, they offered arbitration to JRoll, Madson and Ibanez. The speculation is that Ibanez has agreed to not accept it, in the hope of signing on for a lesser deal (they still need another lefty bat) or the Phillies could get compensation if he signs elsewhere. Compensation would be a sandwich pick and the
They’ll now get the first round pick back that they lost when they signed Papelbon when Madson signs elsewhere. Who knows what is going to happen with JRoll.

Erich, I don’t know where you got your numbers. He’s not the greatest hitter ever, but your numbers are nowhere near the truth. He’s hit .299 against the Marlins, .259 against the Mets and .257 vs the Braves. He’s hit the Phillies at a .331 clip. He hits .253 with runners on base. Could it be better? Sure, but don’t make stuff up. See attached:

I got those numbers off ESPN’s stats page for players. I have lost all trust in anything ESPN does or says.
PS, why the @#$% would I make that up? I want the Phils to sign the best players. I fully trust Ruben and his decision-making. I wanted the Phils to sign him in 2010. I guess I learned a valuable lesson about ESPN’s stats page. I gues they haven’t updated it since 2008 or so….

phan: It remains to be seen how much 3B Wigginton will be playing. My money says it will be more than he plays in LF or at 1B.
Thome is an upgrade over Gload? Really? A guy who can’t play on defense? At best, it’s a break-even – and that’s not what they need now. I’d have been excited about Cuddyer, but not about those two.
There are a lot of “if” and “hopefully” in your last comment. I don’t think that’s how a 102-win team needs to approach the season. It remains to be seen what Miami does. I’m not all that excited right now because, as we have seen, the regular season means nothing. If they can’t hit in the playoffs, what’s the point?

The main thing that worries me about Wiggington is that he played many of his games in Coors Field. Humidor or not, he’s gotta hit better than he did last year. It won’t be easier to hit them out of CBP…

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